, attorney-general in the reign of Charles I. the son of William Noy, of
, attorney-general in the reign of
Charles I. the son of William Noy, of St. Burian, in Cornwall, gent, was born in 1577. In 1593 he was entered of
Exeter-college, where he continued three years in close
application to his studies. Thence he was removed to
Lincoln’s- inn, to study the common law, in the knowledge
of which he became very eminent. He was chosen to represent the borough of Helston in his own country, towards the end of James’s reign, in two parliaments; in
both of which he shewed himself a professed enemy to the
king’s prerogative. In 1625 he was elected a burgess for
St. Ives, in which parliament, and another following, he
continued in the same sentiments, until he was made attorney-general in 1631, which produced a total change in
his views, and he became not only a supporter of the prerogative where it ought to be supported, but carried his
notions of this power so far as to advise the measure of
ship-money, a tax levied without consent of parliament.
He was unquestionably a man of great abilities, but flattered so much upon that account, that Clarendon says he
thought “he could not give a clearer testimony that his
knowledge in the law was greater than all other men’s, than
by making that law, which all other men believed not to
”
be so. So he moulded, framed, and pursued the odious
and crying project of soap; and with his own hand drew
and prepared the writ for ship-money; both which will be
the lasting monuments of his fame. In a word,“adds this
excellent historian,
” he was an unanswerable instance,
how necessary a good education and knowledge of men is
to make a wise man, at least a man fit for business.“Noy,
however, did not live to see the full effect of his measures.
In 1634 his health was much impaired by the fatigue arising from his professional duties, and he retired to Tunbridge Wells, where he died in August, and was buried
at New Brentford. His will, which is dated June 3, about
a month or six weeks before his death, contains the following singular clause:
” All the rest of my estate I leave
to my son Edward (who is executor to this my will), to be
squandered as he shall think fit I leave it him for that
purpose, and I hope no better from him.“Steele, in the
Tatler, No. 9, observes that this
” generous disdain, and
reflection upon how little he deserved from so excellent a
father, reformed the young man, and made Edward from
an arrant rake become a fine gentleman." No such effect
however followed; and within two years he was killed in
a duel.